At Man United, since Ole Solskjaer's time, coaches have always needed a block in front of the central defender pair. Before Casemiro's arrival, Scott McTominay and Fred were often chosen. In the national team, McTominay is playing as a "number 8" in attack, something he did not have or will never have at Manchester United. For most of his time at Man United, there were times when McTominay played as a blocker or had to pair up a "pair of 6" with Fred. In general, all methods are ineffective.
Until Erik ten Hag took power, the first thing he wanted to do was to tear up the " McFred" because it was too useless. The Dutch strategist brought in Casemiro, Christian Eriksen, Mason Mount and Sofyan Amrabat. The addition in midfield after two summer transfers like that by Ten Hag is no different from a skillful chase of the McFred pair. Fred has moved to Galatasaray and McTominay may not stay at Man United until the end of the 2023-2024 season. If McTominay leaves, M.U will part ways with a player who has made more than 200 appearances for the club and unfortunately, in those matches, the Scottish midfielder rarely plays at his best.
When playing for the Scotland national team, McTominay played box-to-box and was tasked with scoring. The "Red Devils" midfielder is leading the list of "Gunners" in the EURO 2024 qualifiers (6 goals), helping the home team top Group A, with more points than the big team Spain (15 points after 5 matches compared to 6 points after 3 matches). McTominay has scored more goals than Europe's brightest strikers such as Harry Kane, Cristiano Ronaldo, Kylian Mbappe and Erling Haaland.
When he started out as a child star, McTominay was arranged in the striker position thanks to his outstanding figure. Knowing this data from his student, the captain of the Scotland team, Steve Clarke, helped McTominay promote his strengths that were not explored much during his years playing for the first team of Man United. When he was an assistant under Ole Solskjaer, former player Darren Fletcher had a right-wing stance for McTominay to play as a "number 8" because this midfielder was a classic attacking player.
"He can be a proficient box-to-box midfielder, who can do everything like giving cards, being a support for teammates in attack, taking shots, scoring or penetrating the penalty area" - Fletcher said at the time 4 years ago.
The confusing thing at the moment is why a coach who tends to promote the strengths of players like Ten Hag does not create an opportunity for McTominay to play at his best in the national team. Perhaps in the context of the "Red Devils" midfield being swept by the storm of injuries, Ten Hag needs to change and give his student a chance.
